Robert

Anyone been near the ground today? It’s very windy where I am this morning so if it is the same at the ground it could make the conditions challenging.

No idea if this has any substance, but a County fan told me they had been sniffing around David Carson. He also said St Johnstone had offered them £100k for Jordan White.

Time to put Morton in their place and win the three points. It may not be pretty, it is unlikely to be easy, but we need the win. A great performance would be a nice bonus too.

Albion Rovers @ 3.40 please.

Add the referee who missed Meekings’ hand ball in the semi too. Regarding Tuesday’s attendance, I think the main factor in the low crowd was the £20 admission fee. £10 would probably have generated the same revenue with a much noisier crowd and overcome the need for the North Stand closure. Maybe our good fortune in getting through to the next round is the bit of luck we need to kick start our season. We will know soon enough. Morton tomorrow, a double header against Hamilton then Dundee away this month will make or break our season. Ideally we win our home games and, at worst, avoid defeats in the away games.

HT 1-0 FT 2-0 ICT Billy Mckay Morton Muirhead Crowd 2065

https://ictfc.com/match-report-ictfc-0-2-queens-park-31-08-2023

To be honest, we don’t deserve to be put through to the fifth round, regardless of the error by Queens Park. We were so poor last night that almost anyone could have beaten us. I’d rather we now focussed on having a good end to the league season, making the play offs and putting things in place for next season.

We actually went one round further this year: fourth rather than third. May 2015 seems a lifetime ago, as does knocking County out a couple of seasons back. That was as bad a performance as I can remember in a long time. Other than after we weathered the early storm and Henderson hit the post, we were second best all over the park. Doran had a great chance but got his feet in a tangle, although I’m certain he was offside when played through. Other than that, we did nothing. Queens Park passed better, moved better, won all the second balls, created the better chances and could have won more comfortably. They knew how to play us and we had no answer. They pressed us so we couldn’t play out from the back, and when we went long as a result they invariably regained possession. Boateng mopped everything up in midfield and Mckay had no hope against their tall defenders. We needed a Plan B to keep the ball from goal kicks and throw ins but we failed to have one. As for the goals, I’m a fan of Devine but his wayward pass loosely towards Duffy created the first gift, whilst goodness knows how neither him nor Ridgers took control as they jointly gifted the second. We had some hopes that our fortunes had changed in recent weeks, but tonight was very, very poor. We need a reaction on Saturday or our season is well and truly over. 869 of us gave up our time on a miserable Tuesday and got absolutely no reward. We can’t even blame the weather or the officials. Not good at all.

Better change my first QP scorer prediction for tonight!

He tended to be a sub with them so got little game time. I thought he’d have made it to a higher level than an English League 2 side after his loan here finished but maybe his progress has stalled.

It’s one to wrap up well for tonight! Heavy showers interspersed with sunshine all day: bet we just get the rain tonight with the yellow wind warning kicking in just after kick off! Working out which way the wind will affect things and then winning the toss may be key tonight, whilst not playing high balls into the wind at all. The team will be interesting. Will Allardice and Harper get game time or be held back for the league? We will know soon enough.

Only Highland League scorer I can see at the weekend was Anthony McDonald for Brechin.

If the highlights are a fair reflection of the game, we are fortunate to have got a point. Both Raith goals stemmed from poor play by us: a defensive header by Devine that fell to a Raith player and a slack pass by Hyde. However, both our goals were good. Great play between Henderson and Mckay for the first, whilst the second looked to be off the training pitch. A great run into space by Mckay and picked out perfectly by Welsh. Big week ahead as we need to beat Morton (and also Queens Park in the cup ideally) then we have a double header next month against Hamilton, our bogey team, who look to have found some form. We will know by the end of February if we are going to be in contention for a play off place.

HT 1-0 FT 2-1 ICT Mckay QP Savoury Crowd 1095

The club’s report: https://ictfc.com/report-raith-rovers-2-2-ictfc-28-01-2023

I actually agree with you. It all highlights why we need open communication by the club

I don’t think Robbo should be doing the reporting of other games. However, it may be that his salary with us has been reduced to reflect his role with the BBC, which I’d be fine with. If that is the case, the club should be open with fans and I’m sure we’d understand the position and be a lot more comfortable with. One thing he did say today is that when he and Dodds discuss signings, Dodds has the final say.

Noted today: Jordan White for County George Oakley for Morton Rory McAllister (2) for Montrose Nathan Austin for Kelty

Until I read the excellent report above, I could only go by Sportscene’s brief report which indicated it was a decent game and we deserved our equaliser late on. We’ve crept back up to fifth as a result.

Good to see Allardice and Harper in the squad. Where’s new signing Woods?

With our encouraging recent performances, I’m hopeful we can keep the 23 year run going and bring 3 points back north. If we have some of our casualties back, even if only on the bench to start with, that can only help our cause. Onwards and upwards!!

And they jinxed us last season. Time to repay them by winning 6 points!

Rearranged for Tuesday 21 February.

Dumbarton @ 1.55 please.